The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) has issued its statement on yesterday’s fatal shooting of a man in Marietta during a domestic dispute call:
Marietta, GA (September 15, 2022) – The GBI is investigating an officer involved shooting in Marietta, Georgia. The Cobb County Police Department asked the GBI to conduct an independent investigation on September 14, 2022. One man was shot and died from his injuries. No officers were injured in this incident.
Preliminary information indicates that at 8:17 p.m., the 911 center received a call from a person who lives at 1826 Sandtown Road in Marietta. The caller reported being involved in a domestic violence incident with Anton Washington, age 22, who also lives in the home. Responding officers met with the caller and ultimately had contact with Washington inside the home. Washington had a knife and initially followed instructions to put the knife on the floor. He then picked the knife back up and lunged toward one of the officers. Two officers fired their weapons and Washington was hit. He was taken to Kennestone Hospital where he later died.
The GBI will conduct an independent investigation. Once complete, the case will be given to the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office for review.
The GBI’s role in officer-involved shootings
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation routinely investigates the shooting of individuals by police officers, as well as any time an officer discharges a firearm while on duty, at the request of the police agency involved in the shooting.
Natalie Ammons, the Deputy Director of the GBI’s Office of Public Affairs explained to us how the system works.
Police agencies are not required to request outside investigation of officer involved shootings, and there is no formal agreement between the GBI and local police departments.
But police agencies make the request so that an independent agency does the investigation in an incident involving their own officers.
The investigations are carried out by Special Agents in a regional office within the area where the police agency is located. Cobb County, and much of the rest of metro Atlanta, is in the GBI’s Region 10, based in Conyers.
In Region 10, officer involved shootings and corruption investigations are the primary investigations Special Agents do, while in more rural areas with fewer police resources the agents handle a wider range of criminal investigations.
There is no special unit or division that conducts the investigation of officer involved shootings.
The announcements of the investigations can be found at the GBI’s press release web page.
